One Eyed Monsters

[feder1]

Is it beyond the wit of man or woman to design a car,s electrics so that there is a clear warning of when a light bulb has blown?

I see lots of cars with a missing head light or brake light or tail light. Maybe one in a hundred vehicles?

I expect some might argue that it doesn,t matter at all as there are no proven statistics detailing any accidents or injuries or loss of life nor any other adverse consequences.

On the other hand it might be a design feature requested by the police so that they can stop such a vehicle and discover some more sinister problems?

[bungeejumper]

I think a lot of cars have dashboard alerts about failed bulbs, don't they? Although I can't say I've ever actually seen one light up, because it's been a very long time since I've had a headlamp bulb fail.

What I'm waiting for is the day when a warning about a blindingly misaligned HID headlamp becomes standard practice. Around these parts it seems to be a particular disease of older cars. And particularly the ones that tend to drive around very fast after the pubs close.

Fine 'em for a first offence, as they do in France. And crush 'em for a second. The cars, I mean, not the drivers.

BJ

[pje16]

I get a warning on mine

[AF62]

I suspect the issue isn’t knowing that the bulb has blown, but in many cars it being a complete pain in the backside to replace the bulb so people don’t bother.

[DrFfybes]

What I'm waiting for is the day when a warning about a blindingly misaligned HID headlamp becomes standard practice.
BJ

Don't they tend to be on the front of oncoming vehicles?

[bungeejumper]

I suspect the issue isn’t knowing that the bulb has blown, but in many cars it being a complete pain in the backside to replace the bulb so people don’t bother.

I'm sure you're absolutely right. On my wife's old Polo, you needed to be a left-handed midget with extra sensory perception to change the nearside bulb. And my Mk1 Focus was no better. But if that's too much trouble for some people to bother with, they don't really belong on the roads at all.

A few years ago, I had a near miss on a dark country road with an oncoming Land Rover Defender that turned out to be towing a super-wide trailer. The only forward light that was visible at all was a single nearside headlamp. No way at all that any other road user could know the trailer was there. (Shudder.)

[TheMotorcycleBoy]

When we lived in N. Beds, I used to travel back home the final 3 miles, along a bumpy winding unclassified road between our village and another. For about 6 months (the ones when the evenings are dark), I used to past most evenings, an ahem female[1] driver in a car with the offside front lamps blown. I kinda ended up just getting used to the profile of her car in the dark, and my 6th sense became very highly tuned to gauging exactly where she was in the road; down to the nearest 3mm.

Matt

[1] As the evenings got lighter, I was able to make a 99% accurate assessment of gender.

[Breelander]

On my wife's old Polo, you needed to be a left-handed midget with extra sensory perception to change the nearside bulb....

On my Polo I find it's easiest to remove the headlamp housing, there are just a few torx screws holding it in place.

I've seen some cars where the instructions start.... "jack up the front and remove the road wheel. Remove the wheel arch splash guard. Remove the windscreen wash bottle...."

[marronier]

Think of all the energy required when one regularly switches all the lights on and then makes a walk round the vehicle ,checking all lights are working.

[Mike4]

Is it beyond the wit of man or woman to design a car,s electrics so that there is a clear warning of when a light bulb has blown?

Nope.

My van tells me with a dashboard message whenever a lightbulb fails, and which light bulb it is.

My question is why, in this age of LED lamps that are capable of never failing, does my van still use incandescent bulbs that reliably fail every week or three such that I buy them in packs of 20?

I think I can guess the answer....

[MonsterMork]

Is it beyond the wit of man or woman to design a car,s electrics so that there is a clear warning of when a light bulb has blown?

Nope, many vehicles now have this function with either a warning light on the dash, a warning message on the dash/ICE screen, or a combination of both.

The real problem is that most of the expletive-wit drivers out there haven't a chuffin' clue what it means when these warnings make themselves known, so they assume that since the car starts, steers and stops there must be no problem and so it gets ignored. Until I fail it at the MoT

MM

[Mike4]

Is it beyond the wit of man or woman to design a car,s electrics so that there is a clear warning of when a light bulb has blown?

Nope, many vehicles now have this function with either a warning light on the dash,

A long, multi level convo with my daughter some years ago was based on the concept of what should happen when this warning light bulb on the dash fails. Should there be a light bulb warning light bulb failed warning light on the dash too? And if yes, should there be a light bulb failed warning light bulb failed warning light as well? And ....oh you probably get the idea!

[DrFfybes]

Think of all the energy required when one regularly switches all the lights on and then makes a walk round the vehicle ,checking all lights are working.

If you run it counts as aerobic exercise

When I got the Maserati I spent ages searching for a blown bulb, testing all the lights, getting mrsF to press the brake light. In the end decided it was a sensor fault, until one evening I opened the boot and noticed one of the number plate lights had failed.

Paul

[9873210]

My question is why, in this age of LED lamps that are capable of never failing, does my van still use incandescent bulbs that reliably fail every week or three such that I buy them in packs of 20?

I think I can guess the answer....

Because you're too cheap to buy better bulbs? Or a better van?

[9873210]

A long, multi level convo with my daughter some years ago was based on the concept of what should happen when this warning light bulb on the dash fails. Should there be a light bulb warning light bulb failed warning light on the dash too? And if yes, should there be a light bulb failed warning light bulb failed warning light as well? And ....oh you probably get the idea!

That's why all the warning lights should come on at startup. Crush 'em I say, the driver not the car, many cars can be repaired and made to work properly with a decent driver.

[Mike4]

My question is why, in this age of LED lamps that are capable of never failing, does my van still use incandescent bulbs that reliably fail every week or three such that I buy them in packs of 20?

I think I can guess the answer....

Because you're too cheap to buy better bulbs? Or a better van?

Hardly. The van is possibly the best money can buy and if you can suggest a brand of light bulb that doesn't fail early, I'm all ears. I'm currently buying Lucas bulbs in packs of 20.

Thanks!

[DrFfybes]

if you can suggest a brand of light bulb that doesn't fail early, I'm all ears. I'm currently buying Lucas bulbs in packs of 20.

Thanks!

This is a Troll, right? Joe Lucas wasn't known as "The Prince of Darkness" for nothing

IME regularly failing bulbs is often down to a poor connection, either in the holder or in the connector where the loom plugs in to the light unit. Poor Earth used to be common before they got high tec, often spotted by watching tail lights, brakes, and indicators on at the same time and watching the wrong one pulse as it earthed back through a bulb.

Which light is regularly failing?

Paul

[Mike4]

if you can suggest a brand of light bulb that doesn't fail early, I'm all ears. I'm currently buying Lucas bulbs in packs of 20.

Thanks!

This is a Troll, right? Joe Lucas wasn't known as "The Prince of Darkness" for nothing

IME regularly failing bulbs is often down to a poor connection, either in the holder or in the connector where the loom plugs in to the light unit. Poor Earth used to be common before they got high tec, often spotted by watching tail lights, brakes, and indicators on at the same time and watching the wrong one pulse as it earthed back through a bulb.

Which light is regularly failing?

Paul

All four headlamp bulbs and the stop-and-tail lights in particular.

[gryffron]

My question is why, in this age of LED lamps that are capable of never failing, does my van still use incandescent bulbs that reliably fail every week or three such that I buy them in packs of 20?

LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area. Difficult for directed beams like headlights. And for other car lights they really need to be designed with this lower density in mind.

If your bulbs are failing that often there’s something wrong with the vehicle. Alternator chucking out too many volts? That’ll also cook the battery in time.

I’ve changed headlamp bulbs roughly 1 every 10 years motoring.

Gryff

[pje16]

I’ve changed headlamp bulbs roughly 1 every 10 years motoring.
Gryff

I never changed a headlamp on a 3 series BMW in 14 years of ownership